Restless Souls/Technology
Daodan-Chrysalis
Explanation attempt of the biological dimension
Thus the type of damage becomes analyzed and therefore the Daodan requires a sensor system. In nature, “higher lifeforms” evolved by following – among other concepts – specialization and socialization. Those find their expression on one hand in different cell types – therefore multicellular organism – and on other hand in all kinds of symbiosis. So, for a hyperevolved organism, it wound be understandable if it work more intensely by those concepts. A body realizes damage or harmful influences by stimuli. To detect all kind of stimuli, much space is surely needed. Ninety percent of cells that can be found on and inside the human body aren't his own but microorganisms. Fortunately they weigh only a half up to one kilogram. Their assemblage is known as human flora. Depending on the organism, one of them can be a squatter (in metaphorical sense) against real health threatening germs or another one can hold an actual ability like vitamin K production. Some abilities can't be simply or sufficiently integrated into an organism but the ability or its product can be received from a symbiont. So, it seems likely to enlist microorganisms for more sensory tasks and abilities which are actually alien to the human. For this reason, the Daodan needs to upgrade the microorganisms' genomes as well. Their totality is called microbiome. Next, communication between the symbionts has to be ensured. A more or less standardized cell organelle might do the job by using messenger substances. Or it transmits different electromagnetic waves which existence doesn't seem too alien in comparison to the real bioelectric field of each living organism and wound give an explanation attempt of the Daodan glow. (Some metabolic waste products – which are released through the body surface together with perspiration – might become stimulated to glow by the field.) For processing the received information, the Daodan might use an own “self-awareness”, mainly a kind of "bodyimage" formed by another organelle type inside every daodanized cell. The presence of such organelle in neurons opens the possibility for – how geyser coined it – “schizophrenia of the 3rd kind” but also Kerr's idea of a mental interface which allows influence on the Daodan's development by the host's personality. If we want to know more about the decision making algorithms (and their physical structures) which calculates the mutations, we will need to ask Hasegawa. ;-) Depending on the target – human Daodan genome, Daodan microbiome, both their epigenomes, or even organelle genomes (like mitochondrions and plastids have) – a few different “vectors” (e.g. viruses) need to be available to transport the mutation. (To ease further talk one might like to merge the genome names under one term like Daodan metagenome or even shorter daogenome.) However, it's hard to believe that the Daodan could be able to come up with fitting mutations completely by its own. It seems more likely to me that it draws on “genetic building blocks” holding basis information for fast regeneration, resistances, different metabolisms, and so on. Muro and Mai got implanted with prototypes, indeed, but after more than 15 years I think the Syndicate accomplished to developed a Daodan allowing its mass production. This second generation would be independent from the host's sex (XX / YX chromosomes) and metagenome's composition by providing level-zero stem cells. These can target any compatible symbiont cell and then do a “configuration” (whereby they dissolve the unnecessary genetic material) to become classic stem cells. German translation ... |
Natural reproduction of human hosts
At new environmental conditions, randomly evolved traits helps members of a population to survive. The survivors then ensure the population's continuity by their reproduction. The Daodan reacts directly on environmental influences and probably – or largely – doesn't know anymore randomness. Therefor it's uncertain if the Daodan can manage or allow random recombination of genetic material during the sexual reproduction of Daodan hosts. For the Daodan, there's actually no more necessity for recombination. So, if no recombination happens, female gamete (egg cells) might become produced with or without genetic material whereby only empty egg cell can accept a male gamete. In any case, the chromosome set is already diploid which means that baby is a genetic clone of one of it's parents. (But you know, the personality is still shaped to a major degree by environment and education.) Contact of male hormones with female gamete (cell nucleus must be presented) marks the cell as fertilized. Implantation and embryonic development follows. The passing on of microbial Daodan symbionts happens during child's birth (...) and by intake of breast milk. (Bifidobacteria can be taken as kind of RL example). German translation ... |
Multiple Imago stages
German translation ... |
Static metamorphosis
German translation ... |
Contamination of the ecosystem
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GV's "Chrysalis" work group thinks that the Daodan will contaminate the environment sooner or later (in case it didn't already happen) because of horizontal gene transfer causing unseen threats. Hence the Daodan needs a patch. The idea was and is to protect the primer symbiont, the human host. To ensure that the microbial Daodan cells stays only at the human flora these cells need to die in absent of the primer symbiont by dissolving their genetic material with an enhanced degradosome. (Will Pandora hunt down all hosts with an original Daodan (to patch them or kill the hosts) ?) This patch solves only one part of the problem. Existing Daodans would be still a permanent danger, especially the unknown number in Syndicate 'property'. In worst case this threat had to be met on planetary scale. This would require full control over all matter and lifeforms. Silver Village's terraforming research seemed provide first results just in time. Green Village got access to this data and assembled their own prototypes which become slowly adapted to fight the Daodan. (This version of nanobots haven't reached yet their final stage of development.) To give the bots capability for self-awareness they form sensor system and equivalents of neural networks (to create a "body image") whereby some nodes use other artificial organs (for GPS localization, etc). These notes allow humans control over the growth of the bot collective. To prevent the Daodan's continuing contamination and reconquering of already cleaned areas the bots needs to cloak all lifeforms at first, analyzing them, and then killing all separated microbial Daodan cells. This event is code named "silver dawn". Most of the bots will destroy themselves after done work. Only the subterranean nodes will remain giving the possibility to repeat the process in case few Daodans survived. The nanobots have many mechanisms borrowed from living systems and one of its macroscopic appearances is a crystal. Hence GV personal nick named it "bioc". German translation ... |
Future upgrades
I don't think this will happen in RS but later sequels. It's better to write it down than forgetting it again during time.
- telomere regeneration: which allows biological immortality (overpopulation problem appears)
- cyborg genes: construction genes which takes care of implants -- nothing special in comparison to our human growth genes -> Omega-Chimäre
- memory chromosome: nanoscanner collect position and properties of neurons and other relevant stuff and code these information into a new chromosome
Omega-Chimäre
- Omega-Chimäres can make use of external memory storage for different Imago stages and also knowledge.
- Long-range objective is to create a collective consciousness (via network) called Daimon.
Symbiosis
The following subsections are meant to show what symbiosis is capable of and that it exist between very different species. Therefore those sections display combinations of the so-called kingdoms.
Unfortunately, viruses are unranked so far. But in my layman understanding they would form the fourth domain and seventh kingdom of live.
- Are viruses lifeforms?
- The problem is that they are neither really dead nor alive. They are zombies so to say. They do nothing until they infect a suitable host cell and becomes active again. Living things were thought to have always an active metabolism. Then tardigrades have been found out to break that rule with their cryptobiosis ("hidden life"). In that stage their metabolism is almost too low for measures (under 0,01%). After that discovery scientists had the rethink the definition of death. The microbes' state of temporary death became some kind of hibernation, namely cryptobiosis, and some Christians were happy that their religion was the solo promise again for resurrection.
- A virus cannot reproduce itself without a host but that also true for some endoparasites (parasitic organisms in other organisms). And a virus has no own metabolism but can take over the host's metabolism and organelles. In this view a virus might be a very mean and cleaver bastard but it lives.
- So a virus makes the host its own body; the news are that there also exist symbiotic viruses. These have not taken over a host cell but sorta vice versa: they became fully incorporated into the host's genome. Two examples: First, the polydnavirus inside of ichneumonid (parasitic) wasps is only produced when the wasps lay eggs into a caterpillar. The virus helps the wasp eggs to survive inside the caterpillar by affecting the immune system and changing the metabolism in advantages of the wasp eggs. The second example is about us humans (and all animals with a placenta). The retrovirus ERVWE1 in our genome merge placenta cells by its produced protein "syncytin" to create a protection layer. That way the embryo keeps untouched by the mother's immune system. It could be discovered as foreign body because of the father's genes. The retrovirus gives us an advantage compared to non-placental mammals.
(to be continued)
Fungus and plant
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More than 400 million years of evolution and some plants still can't make it on their own: plant stress tolerance via fungal symbiosis All plants in natural ecosystems are thought to be symbiotic with mycorrhizal and/or endophytic fungi. Collectively, these fungi express different symbiotic lifestyles ranging from parasitism to mutualism. Analysis of Colletotrichum species indicates that individual isolates can express either parasitic or mutualistic lifestyles depending on the host genotype colonized. The endophyte colonization pattern and lifestyle expression indicate that plants can be discerned as either disease, non-disease, or non-hosts. Fitness benefits conferred by fungi expressing mutualistic lifestyles include biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, growth enhancement, and increased reproductive success. Analysis of plant–endophyte associations in high stress habitats revealed that at least some fungal endophytes confer habitat-specific stress tolerance to host plants. Without the habitat-adapted fungal endophytes, the plants are unable to survive in their native habitats. Moreover, the endophytes have a broad host range encompassing both monocots and eudicots, and confer habitat-specific stress tolerance to both plant groups. source: http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/59/5/1109 German translation ... |
Virus, fungus and plant
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A Virus in a Fungus in a Plant: Three-Way Symbiosis Required for Thermal Tolerance A mutualistic association between a fungal endophyte and a tropical panic grass allows both organisms to grow at high soil temperatures. We characterized a virus from this fungus that is involved in the mutualistic interaction. Fungal isolates cured of the virus are unable to confer heat tolerance, but heat tolerance is restored after the virus is reintroduced. The virus-infected fungus confers heat tolerance not only to its native monocot host but also to a eudicot host, which suggests that the underlying mechanism involves pathways conserved between these two groups of plants. source: German translation ... |